There is another personage beside Buddha spoken of by these religionists, the Kin-mu, "Golden mother." She dwells in a heaven called Yau (to shake) chu (to dwell)

[paragraph continues] kung (palace). My informant considered that she represents God, in the idea of this religion, more nearly than Buddha does, because she is an object of worship. On my inquiring why this divinity should be female, he said that Kin-mu was the mother of the soul, as the female parent was of the body. Yan chu kung may be Jasper pearl palace. She is said to protect from various calamities, and is prayed to for deliverance from sickness, and to save the deceased from miseries in the unseen world.

The origin of her name is found in the Chinese theory of the elements, among which kin, "gold," "metal generally," stands first in order. This and many other Tauist notions are blended with Buddhist principles in the system maintained by the followers of the Wu-wei-kiau.

They have four principal festivals, of which two are to celebrate the day of the birth and death of Lo-tsu. The others are the new year and the middle of the eighth month. On these occasions, three cups of tea and nine small loaves of bread are placed on the table by appointment of Lo-tsu. The number nine refers to the strokes of the pa-kwa, or "eight diagrams," in which nine is the most fortunate number. The bread is called k'ien-k'wan, "heaven and earth," also in imitation of the names of the eight diagrams of the "Book of Changes."

The sect is sometimes called Ch'a-kiau, "Tea sect," and Man-t'eu-kiau, "Bread sect," in consequence of the usage here mentioned. These appellations are, however, nothing but popular nicknames.

They have in their chapels, tablets to the emperor and to the five names of honour--heaven, earth, prince, parents, and teacher. They are strict vegetarians, and argue tenaciously for the metempsychosis. They have no ascetic institute like the Buddhists, but allow the family institution to be undisturbed.

They were persecuted in the Ming dynasty. One of their leaders was crucified by nailing on the gate of a city in Shantung. On one occasion, some persons of this sect

addressed me in a missionary chapel in Shanghai, with the remark that their religion resembled the Christian in this respect, that one of their leaders was crucified.

They have not since been subjected to persecution, but their religion is still prohibited, and its name is found among those charged with teaching depraved doctrines, in some editions of the "Sacred Edict."